Founder Profile

Pew is an independent nonprofit organization – the sole beneficiary of seven individual trusts established between 1948 and 1979 by four generous and committed siblings. Learn more about one of our founders: Mary Ethel Pew.

All of Pew’s projects begin with sound planning and rigorous design. This process is ongoing and includes engaging experts from inside and outside the organization.

Once a project is approved and implemented, its progress is continuously tracked by project staff and reviewed each year by Pew’s board and senior leadership. This annual reassessment provides our staff with an opportunity to reflect on the progress of their work and either reaffirm or revise their objectives, strategies, milestones, and timelines.

Strategic plans are not carved in stone, nor are they useful if left on the shelf. As such, annual plans are an important means of keeping strategies up to date and responsive to what is being learned through implementation in the field. Impact is measured through a rigorous and independent evaluation of the overall program to assess its return on investment and inform decisions about next steps, including changing the methodology and goals of the project or choosing not to move forward.

Corrections Policy

Today, Pew works with interested states and a diverse set of partners to diagnose the factors driving prison growth and provide policy audits that identify options for reform based on solid research, promising approaches, and best practices.

Expanding Pre-k Education

New research on child development fueled the movement for pre-kindergarten education in the 1990s by emphasizing the importance of early learning and the untapped capacity of young minds. In 2001, Pew developed a seven- to 10-year plan to seek approval of policies for universal, high-quality early education in four to six states as well as increased federal funding to support it.

Making Every Vote Count

In 1952, President Harry S. Truman asked Congress to improve the absentee voting program for Americans serving in the military. “When these young people are defending our country,” he said then, “the least we at home can do is make sure they are able to enjoy the rights they are being asked to fight to preserve.”